Bobcats second-year wing Jeffery Taylor may not know the meaning of the word offseason this summer but it doesn’t mean he’s not focused on important things off the court, too. Taylor will be heading home to Sweden on August 11 to make sure he’s home for his mother, Pia’s, 50th birthday.

While Taylor will almost certainly enjoy his time at home with his mom, the rest of his family and friends, it’s still going to be a business trip. He’ll be joining the Swedish National Team for Training Camp less than a week later as they prepare for Eurobasket 2013, which will be played from September 4-22 in Slovenia.

“It’ll be a lot of fun (playing together for the first time,” said Taylor. “We both grew up in Sweden, but he grew up in the south and I was kind of in the middle to north, so we didn’t actually get to play with or against each other. … I think we’ll have a really good chance at going out there and not only competing really hard, but winning games also.”

When the Swedish National Team opens camp, it’s not just some former teammates or Jerebko who will provide familiar faces for Taylor. Assistant Coach Stephen Silas will also be making the trip. After talking with President of Basketball Operations Rod Higgins and General Manager Rich Cho about the trip, they gave Taylor the option of bringing one of the Bobcats assistants of his choosing with him for the Swedish camp and he chose Silas.

“It makes me feel great (Taylor picked him),” Silas said. “We’ve had a great summer. He’s been in basically every day all summer and we really expanded his game with his shooting and ball handling. For him to pick me kind of makes sense because we’ve been together all summer, but it still feels good. Once I get over there, we’re going to be working out and I’ll be sitting through the practices and seeing how his game keeps progressing. … I know his game really well and he’ll be one of the go-to guys on that team. If he has questions or wants to know what I see, I’ll be right there for him.”